Let us now collectively exhale.
If you’ve taken three or four spontaneous naps since this weekend, please know you’re not alone. I write from North Wind Manor after our weekly staff meeting—I believe all our eyelids are a little heavier than they were a week ago, but our hearts are full to overflowing.
The Gray Havens shared some delightful brand new songs with us, one of which involved us finding out that Dave Radford can shred the trumpet. We joined in celebration of our beloved Ben Shive, who was awarded the first ever Resonator Award. Andrew Peterson led us in singing of Christ’s resurrection. The Tokens Show taught us about the sacraments and their role in daily life. John Cal blew our minds repeatedly, both with his delicious food and his profound stories. Andy Crouch delivered a stirring call for artists to forgive and love the church. Dave Trout introduced us to amazing new music (he’s very good at that!). Stephen Trafton truly brought Paul’s letter to the Ephesians to life, reciting it not only from memory, but from the deepest resonances of his heart.
I love to pay attention to themes that arise of their own accord, from sessions and songs and stories. This year I picked up a lot of discussion around “immortality projects” and the ways that we humans try to outlive ourselves and make our marks on the world—bringing these coping mechanisms to light in dialogue with the gospel and what it has to say about death.
Did you pick up on that as well? What else did you pick up on?
Now is the time to share your stories. There are already several blog posts about this year’s Hutchmoot going around Facebook—please link to them here in the comments! We would love to hear from you about your experience of this weekend, what made an impact, and where you sensed renewal of life throughout our time together.
So comment away, and thank you to everyone who came and who prayed for those who came. It was such a gift to be with you.
Photo by Mark Geil